In modern-day London, two brilliant high school students—one Sherlock Holmes and a Miss James “Mori” Moriarty—meet. A murder will bring them together. The truth very well might drive them apart.

Before they were mortal enemies, they were much more…

FACT: Someone has been murdered in London’s Regent’s Park. The police have no leads.

FACT: Miss James “Mori” Moriarty and Sherlock “Lock” Holmes should be hitting the books on a school night. Instead, they are out crashing a crime scene.

FACT: Lock has challenged Mori to solve the case before he does. Challenge accepted.

FACT: Despite agreeing to Lock’s one rule—they must share every clue with each other—Mori is keeping secrets.

OBSERVATION: Sometimes you can’t trust the people closest to you with matters of the heart. And after this case, Mori may never trust Lock again.

This book was really frustrating for me. I wanted to love it, but I only liked it. I had some major issues with the characters, but the criminology aspect of it was really intriguing and I loved the guessing game involved with the investigation. I just wanted more from this book than I got.

The characters were probably the most frustrating part of this book. They were pretty flat and I had a hard time connecting to them because of that. Sometimes, they had these amazing moments where I really liked them and thought things were looking up. And then something would happen and I couldn’t stand them again. I loved the tension and banter between Lock and Mori; however, sometimes Lock was incredibly cold and cruel towards Mori. And Mori was stubborn in not asking Lock for help. They liked each other, but they were super awkward around each other. I didn’t ship it. I liked them as friends and maybe over time, I could see them as more. But after this first book? Nope. No ship feels.

Obviously, I couldn’t stand Mori’s father. He was horrible and cruel and his character almost made me DNF. But it all made sense by the end. And it was actually pretty intriguing, the way it all went down. We were also introduced to Watson, but briefly. I wanted more Watson! Mycroft, Lock’s brother, was pretty cool, but (like with Watson) I wanted to see more of him.

I really liked Sadie. Her friendship with Mori was excellent and a great example of what we need more of in YA. They were friends who drifted, yet they didn’t become mortal enemies. They didn’t bully each other or become cruel. In fact, over time, they drifted back together and became friends again – picking up almost as if nothing had ever happened. I don’t like how their story ended, though. That was super, super frustrating and made me really sad panda.

Now, my next issue with this book is.. weird. This book is set in London, England. For some reason, I found myself reading the prose in an American accent and the dialogue in a British accent, which made reading this super awkward and slow. I tried not to do it, but I couldn’t help it. My brain just couldn’t focus on the story as much while it was trying to do this. It’s especially weird because, when reading, I NEVER read with the intended accents. In my head, it’s always an American accent – my default, since I’m from the US. So I don’t know why that happened with this book. But it was really… Weird…

The pacing of this book was really weird, too. It had big sections that were epic and big sections that were meh. Sometimes, it felt like things were picking up; other times, it slowed down to an almost unbearable crawl. It took me a week to read it, which is a bit slow for me. Sometimes, all I could do was read one or two chapters before putting it down.

Yet, despite all my character and pacing issues, this book was still a fun read. The last 60 pages really picked up and the big reveal was – though not too shocking – pretty epic and intense. There wasn’t a lot of build-up to the second book, though, so I’m not really excited for it yet. Maybe once the cover and synopsis are revealed, I’ll get more into it. We’ll see!

I definitely recommend this book for fans of Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately, I haven’t read the original classic novel, so maybe that’s where some of my issues stem from – I couldn’t pick up on any hidden easter eggs from the classic because I’ve never read it. Maybe, for those who HAVE read the original book, it will be more intriguing! And if you like psychological thrillers and mysteries, then this book is also a good read for you!

2 Responses to “Review: Lock & Mori by Heather W. Petty”

Oh, I’m sorry you weren’t keen on it. I’ve just preordered a copy, as I love Sherlock Holmes, and can’t wait to read all of the new YA adaptations that are coming out round about now. I’m hoping I still enjoy it, and, being British, it might feel more natural to me being set in London.